How To Train Like A Pro

There's a great article from the editor of Men's
Health interviewing Todd Durkin, trainer to many
top NFL athletes.

There is A LOT of useful, and applicable, fitness
advice for you to follow. Just because you don't
take snaps from a 300lb lineman, or even play a
sport, doesn't mean you can't apply these secrets to your fitness program.

As you may have heard we've launched our new Small
Group Personal Training program, called PACK
Training, where you and 2 or 3 others train at the same time in a newly equipped, fully functional training room. It is of NO surprise that most if not all of the secrets Todd mentions in this article takes place in each and every Pack session. I encourage you to take a few minutes and read the article in full, but I've outlined some of his main points that dovetail perfectly with Pack Training.


Secret #1: Work Your Weaknesses
"You would be surprised that some of our workouts
don't involve a lot of traditional "weight"
training. I like to emphasize speed, agility,
quickness, acceleration, power, and metabolic
conditioning along with my strength and
flexibility work."

This is well said. The days of doing bench press
on Monday, Squats on Wednesday, and curls on
Friday are long gone. A total body, metabolic
conditioning workout complete with core, balance,
and flexibility is where results lie. And to no surprise, one of our Pack Principles is "Train movements, not muscles."

Do you still train like Au-nold did in the 80's?

Secret #2: Pick Up Your Pace
"For me, tempo is king. I love to keep the heart
rate up during the workout...You don't need to
train all day - the intense part of my clients'
sessions is approximately 45 minutes. Get in, do
your work, and then recover."

You shouldn't have time for water cooler talk during your workout. If you're chatting with your buddies you're likely not working hard enough.

Our workouts, again, to no surprise, are 45 minutes. Come to a Pack workout and you'll see what Todd means to keep your heart rate up. He lists 8 components for a workout all of which take place with Pack Training.

Is your heart pumping so fast it's hard to talk during your workout?

Secret #3: Don't Skip The Big Three
"Pullups. Pushups. Lunges."

He's right. These exercises will never go out of
style. They're like the old pair of jeans you have
that you refuse to throw out because you'll ALWAYS wear them.

We do these 3 exercises in so many different
varieties... with weight, with jumps, one leg, two leg, decline, incline, partner... it'll blow your mind!

Are you incorporating the Big 3?

Secret #4: Avoid These Common Mistakes
1. Too much emphasis on big weights
2. Not enough total-body training and conditioning
3. A lack of variety
4. Overtraining
5. Inconsistent nutrition
6. Not getting enough sleep

I was very happy to see he mentions nutrition and
sleep. You cannot out-train a bad diet. And poor
sleep or no sleep at all is often overlooked when it comes to your health and fitness. Both VERY important.

Is your health and fitness program balanced?

Durkin gives you a lot of great information to
follow. And I, your humble fitness trainer,
encourage you to heed ALL of his advice.

Again, the article is timely with the launch of
our breakthrough small group personal training
program we refer to as Pack Training.

I invite you in to try a week of Pack completely free. I guarantee you haven't experienced anything else like it. And clients are raving about it!

"PACK training is absolutely awesome. I can’t get enough."- Erin T.
"I love the added accountability of knowing that I’m a part of something bigger than myself."- Kelly A.
"The only thing better than hearing "GREAT JOB!" is hearing it 4 times!" - Anna N.
"You guys are annoyingly good at what you do." - Ed S.
"I love it. What the heck took you guys so long?" - Marty M

But you need to take action on this. Our launch obviously won't last forever so this invitation is only good until October 31st. Call the studio today or for more details click here.

In fitness,
Tim Chudy

This Food Is Keeping You From Weight Loss

A recent Harvard study published in The New England Journal of Medicine looked at long term weight gain linked to specific foods. Participants gained on average 17 pounds over the 20 year span the study was conducted. A lot gained more.

What's interesting about this study is they looked at how much specifc foods led people to gain weight over four year periods.

Can you guess what food contributed to the most weight gain?

It wasn't candy. It wasn't ice cream or cookies.

Potatoes.

Fried, boiled, mashed... any way you like 'em.

Dr. Mozzafarian, an professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said this is likely due to starches and refined carbohydrates producing bursts in blood glucose and insulin levels. This leads to an increase in hunger and thus upping the total amount of food people eat at their next meal.

Everyone I sit down with in our consultation process hears me address this problem. I call it the 'Viscous Carbohydrate Cycle'.

And the consequences don't stop with eating more food. It's also responsible for energy highs and lows, lethargy, dizziness, and depression. And there's more. Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and a slew of other bad stuff.

Are you safe?

If you pass on the potato chips at Bread Co. and opt for the apple or whole grain baguette, don't think you're in the clear. Because there were plenty of non-potato foods too.

The simple fact is this... we eat too many carbs.

We're a carb laden socitey. And if you continue to eat as you do, you will not lose weight, you will not get healthy, you will not pass Go, and you will not collect $200!:-)

In all seriousness, you must control your carbohydrate intake. I'm not saying start the Atkins diet. But you must drastically cut your carbs and increase your protein and veggie intake.

This is one of the reasons why our clinically proven, done-for-you nutrition plan works so well. It's a low glycemic, higher protein, precisely designed diet.

Ronni is down 14 pounds in 8 weeks, Anne Marie is down 11 pounds in 8 weeks, Annie has lost 3 inches in her waist in 4 weeks, Kathy lost 31 total pounds and has remained at her goal weight for over 2 years! And the list goes on.

If you would like more info on our nutrition plan and find out how much weight you can expect to lose click here.

To your weight loss,
Tim

P.S. I haven't posted in a while and there's good reason for that. We're currently in the midst of launching a new service here at Fitness Together. I can't release all the details just yet, but it's pretty exciting! This service will make personal training much more appealing and affordable for a lot of people. Stay tuned!

P.P.S. Cut the carbs!